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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267857">James &amp; Me: Accident</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcepl/pseuds/mcepl'>mcepl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, F/M, Marriage Proposal, Muggle/Wizard Relations</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:20:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,587</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23267857</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcepl/pseuds/mcepl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Visit to show her boyfriend to parents ends up with revolution which changes lives for both families. Very much Work in Progress (all comments are welcome).</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, James Sirius Potter/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Return to Drakeshaugh</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northumbrian/gifts">Northumbrian</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/8402590">James and Me</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northumbrian/pseuds/Northumbrian">Northumbrian</a>.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Our bike flew over the River Coquet, passed Wood Hall Farm on our
way back to the Harbottle and just behind the hamlet, the road
went down the hill through sparse forest. It was already dark,
and James slowed down a little and perhaps that was what saved
us. A large ball of blue light flew from behind one tree and hit
the machine. When it touched the frame of it, a huge explosion
tore the bike in two pieces, and we both were thrown to the
ground. My helmet saved my head, but unfortunately when falling
my hand got underneath me and I heard a loud crack touching the
ground. Moreover, while flying towards the side of the road,
I hit some piece of metal with my other hand, which went right
through my leather biking jacket and made a large slash in my
arm.</p><p>Strong pain was all over me and I found myself lying on the
ground, crying. All my strength of will suddenly left me and
I remember the rest of that part of the evening just in a haze,
most of what I know about what happened is what later James told
me. He pulled out his wand and started to fire curses to the dark
trees around us. Nobody replied for a moment, so he decided that
the best thing is to transport me to safety. He grabbed me to his
arms and just seconds later I felt something shocking even
through all the pain I was in. I felt squeezed as if I was lying
under a road roller. I thought something hit us, and I was
certain it was my last moment because there was no way how
I could survive it, but surprisingly it got better, and we were
standing in the yard in front of James’ old house, Drakeshaugh.
My eyes could persuade me that I was alive, but my stomach was of
another opinion, and suddenly all the lovely kidney pie dinner we
had in a pub by the road was flying out me straight to the
ground. I remember idiotically, how in the middle of all the
craziness I felt for a couple of minutes most sorry for such
a lovely dinner to be wasted.</p><p>James kept me all the time in his arms and when I finished
heaving, he led me inside. We ended up in the kitchen, sitting on
two high stools behind the bar in the middle of the room against
each other. I was still in my pain-induced haze, and so I was
just sitting half-collapsed on the bar and just half-following
whatever James was doing. I was a bit shocked when he pulled out
his wand, waved it, said something, and suddenly my broken hand
went completely stiff, and I couldn’t move it at all. The
pleasant part was that it didn’t hurt any-more, but still, it
felt weird and I couldn’t stop myself from raising my opinion.</p><p>“What the fuck did you do? What the hell is going on?”</p><p>James was suddenly smiling at me.</p><p>“I am glad, Annie, you are swearing again. That’s a good sign!
Sorry, the side-along apparition is horribly uncomfortable for
the first time. I needed to get you out of there as soon as
possible, somebody may still wait on us, and I was not sure
I could defend you. And you need help to heal as well. I have to
call my parents, but before that, we need to talk.</p><p>I am really sorry, Annie, I didn’t want it to happen this way,
and I swear that it is not just because of the circumstances,
I was preparing to ask you for a long time, but I am a coward and
I couldn’t find a proper situation.”</p><p>I was so out of it; I couldn’t understand what he was talking
about.</p><p>“What the hell are you talking about? I need you to call the
ambulance and not just some fucking talking! Could you fetch
somebody, <em>please</em>?”</p><p>The last word was not polite but a shouted demand.</p><p>“Sorry, Annie, but that’s exactly what I am working for. Before
we can ask for help, I have to ask you something. Please, focus
for a moment and trust me. This is not a joke, and I have to do
it right now, but you are a law student, you understand that
sometimes niceties must be observed.”</p><p>I still did not understand what he was talking about, until he,
dirty, battered and probably slightly wounded himself as well,
knelt on one knee in front of my barstool. It was weird, because
the stool was so high that I was looking at the top of his head,
and then when he turned to me, he was looking up, which felt
weird for such a tall man. However, even though all my anger and
pain I saw in his hazel eyes only sincerity and concern.</p><p>“Annabel May Charlton, I know that this is not the right place or
right time, but I am absolutely sincere when asking you whether
you would make me the biggest honour and agree to be my wife. Not
today, or necessarily not soon, we can plan for whatever we
decide is best for us. And yes, engagement can be broken, but
would you agree that at this moment you want to marry me sometime
later, and be my wife for the rest of our lives?”</p><p>“What the fucking hell? You decide to pop the question when I am
in this state here in your parents’ kitchen! What the …”</p><p>And then it suddenly hit me, he mentioned something about the
legal niceties and calling his parents. And I saw how even more
pain and anguish than I can bear hit him.</p><p>“I am sorry, Jamie, I didn’t want to swear at you after the
question, but what in the world is going on?”</p><p>His eyes were even sadder than before, but he was firm.</p><p>“I am really sorry, Annie, but I mustn’t tell you much more. This
is such an awful situation, and I am really not trying to force
the good answer from you. If you want to break up, or if you
don’t feel ready yet, I will certainly take care of you another
way, but it would be a way easier if we get through this well.</p><p>Please, trust me, and try to forget for a moment about the
situation, your wound, your pain, about this dirt, and
concentrate on what you really want.”</p><p>I still cannot let go of my annoyance with him. What the hell he
was thinking! I am bruised, I have a broken hand, a large gash on
the other one, I am dirty, late to the dinner with my parents,
freaking out, and he asks me The Question! What the fuck?</p><p>However, then finally in the middle of all soreness and
confusion, my legal brain started to work as well. What could
force him to ask the question? To change our legal status, of
course. Usually, because a bride-to-be is pregnant. Well, that
was not an issue here. I knew. After James declined my offer of
sleeping together because he felt too many secrets stood as
a wall between us, we somehow never really revisited the issue,
and I felt so comfortable with him, that I have let it be
resolved somehow on its own eventually. A mild wave of panic ran
through me. Is what I feel just a pleasant feeling from a homely
return to my roots and isn’t he just a family friend in my heart?
Are we doomed to have the sibling’s relationship without any
passion? I looked at James kneeling in front of me and
I immediately knew that’s not the case. Suddenly, I was sorely
tempted to say yes just so that we can celebrate the whole night.</p><p>I dismissed this thought and returned to contemplating what
exactly I feel about James. Being with him was being in peace,
with him I was able to be who I am, and I did not feel the need
to work too hard, because he was just naturally part of my life.
That feeling of returning home was true, but it was James who was
my home. When I looked around myself in the Drakeshaugh kitchen,
I was suddenly overcome by the strong feeling of returning to my
childhood. Unfortunately, I also immediately knew how I might
have spent almost two years chasing Simon, who for anybody who
knew me was obviously completely wrong for me. Getting to a good
university in a big city and studying something so prestigious as
the law was a big achievement for a girl from a small village
somewhere in the middle of sheep and marshes. I knew that I had
to sacrifice a lot to get there, and it was very easy to get
convicted, that I have to hide my background from Simon, and taht
I need to fit into the town world and pretend to be part of it.
I was so used to that pretension that I have not even recognized
how much I tried to make myself into a different girl to be
acceptable for Simon. I suddenly felt incredibly fatigued from
all that effort. There was no need for pretension with James.
I didn’t have to have a different set of clothes, different
entertainment, different life to be good enough for him. I could
just relax. James knew me in my dirty torn jeans, and there was
no pretence with him. If I chose to have special clothes or do
something different, he appreciated it, but it was just for our
enjoyment, it was not required. It smelled like the freedom to
me.</p><p>When I got there with my thoughts, my first reaction was fear.
Yes, the idea of returning home was very tempting, but wouldn’t
I lose all that I have attained by my hard work so far? I took
another look at James who was patiently still waiting until
I finished the struggle with my thoughts. And I knew that saying
yes wouldn’t be yet another pretence or yet another sacrifice for
getting a boy. My home was not a place, it was a person, the one
kneeling in front of me. James would never stop me from getting
my best, he would always support me. And I would finally have
somebody who would like to search for our common best, not only
looking for himself. It felt like cheating because the answer to
this life question should be difficult and hard to find, but it
wasn’t. I remembered the quotation from some old American film,
“Everything you were looking for was right there with you all
along.”. Yes, his presence in my life now was so embarrassingly
natural, that I finally recognized that he was the big missing
part of my life until I met him in Sheffield. It was just too
obvious.</p><p>“Of course, the answer is yes, you idiot. What else could it be?
And yes, we need to talk about planning, because I am by far not
ready to start a family now. I want to finish school, start my
career and all that stuff, but of course, the answer is yes.
Could you explain to me now, what’s going on?”</p><p>He embraced me very gently, but it was the moment when I felt
like maybe exactly those crazy circumstances were worthy just for
this embrace. I was suddenly certain I have his arms where I can
completely fall apart and not be strong and be real. I started to
cry in relief. What the hell is going on with me, that I am such
a cry-baby? However, the day was such an emotional
roller-coaster, and all fear, pain, and excitement suddenly went
over me so much, that despite everything I just wanted to stay
hidden in his arms.</p><p>James shuffled another stool to be next to mine, sat on it while
still keeping me in his arms. I laid myself on his knees while he
started to explain.</p><p>“You know, Annie, wow, my Annie, … sorry, back to the topic, you
know that there are secrets, and rules forbidding me to disclose
those secrets to anybody outside. You are a smart girl and
lawyer, so I guess you have already figured out that I have got
in conflicts with those rules in a big way, and that it led to my
falling apart with my father, who is a law officer of a kind.</p><p>Well, the rules prohibiting wizards and witches from revealing
the secret to Muggles were here for a long time, but for the same
time, there were wizards and witches still falling in love with
Muggles. Traditionally the magical spouses revealed the secret to
their Muggle partner on their wedding night, but that was just
too weird, and the Muggle spouse rightly felt betrayed and
swindled into marriage by dishonesty. So, embarrassingly only
a few years ago they eased the rule a little, that it is possible
to reveal the truth even to fiancée. There is some level of
commitment presented, but at least the Muggle spouse can still
break the engagement if they cannot get over the existence of the
magical world, or they are not willing to submit to the
International Statute of Secrecy. Their memory would be modified,
of course, but it felt like the best compromise available.</p><p>The rest is simple. I need to talk to my father about the ambush,
well, I could talk to any Auror, but I think my Dad would be
rightly offended if I talked with anybody else, and my mum was
the professional Quidditch player for years, so she is excellent
in the healing magic for broken limbs and bruises. So, I really
need them here, and I combined pleasure with necessity when
asking you the question.”</p><p>And then we finally kissed one another. It was just a nice proper
post-engagement kiss, unfortunately a wee too short, because my
hand was now truly in pain again, but I just did not want to skip
this part over. And the kiss was a promise of so many more times
together, much more pleasant than this one.</p><p>While I was still leaning on him, it took me just a second before
my poor brain got really in the action again and I found
a problem.</p><p>“Wait, so that works for me, but what about my parents and Henry?
Is this the reason why your parents separated from us? Mine never
talked about it, but I am sure my Mum was hurt a lot when she
lost Aunt Ginny as a friend.”</p><p>“Yes, I know, and my mum was broken about it all the time, and
no, our engagement doesn’t cover them. While you are in, it
follows, you cannot tell anybody, and I mean anybody, who is
outside. Your memory would get erased of everything related to
magic, me included, and I would go to a very unpleasant magical
jail for a long time, perhaps for life.”</p><p>“Yikes!”</p><p>“Yes, exactly. Concerning your parents and Henry, we probably can
find a way now, with us being engaged, but we need my Dad for it,
and it will take some time. I really should contact my parents
now.”</p><p>He gently unrolled me from his embrace and let me just lean
against the bar, and jumped down from the stool. I saw him when
he went to the next large sitting room and kneeled down in front
of the large fireplace, which was there.</p><p>“I know, I could call them by the mirror, but they will need
a Floo working anyway, and at least we will know that the
fireplace is still connected.</p><p>Look, Annie, this is one useful spell.”</p><p>And he pointed his wands towards the fireplace with some large
blocks of wood and shouted “<em>Incendio!</em>”. Suddenly, all wood was
lit, not by fire slowly growing up, but it was a full blaze at
once. Then he pulled a large jar from the mantle of the fireplace
and took a pinch of green powder from it, threw it to the fire,
and cried.</p><p>“Common Piece in Sutton!”</p><p>Flames turned green, and now he called in a normal voice.</p><p>“Mum, Dad?”</p><p>I remembered about magic from my childhood, and I just saw
lighting up large logs by magic, but still, it was unnerving when
I heard the voice of Uncle Harry from the fireplace.</p><p>“James? Where are you?”</p><p>“Hi, Dad. In Drakeshaugh. I would need both you and Mum here. It
is an emergency, could you come, please?”</p><p>I heard much more quietly like from a larger distance “Ginny,
come here, James needs us in Drakeshaugh.” and then only a second
later Uncle Harry jumped out of the fireplace with his wand
drawn.</p><p>He scanned his surroundings and when he saw me, his concentration
turned to anger.</p><p>“James! What she is doing here?”</p><p>He started to point his wand at me.</p><p>“Dad, stop! It is all right, we just got engaged, I haven’t
broken any law.”</p><p>“Engaged? Do you understand that it must be a sincere commitment,
not just a sham engagement?”</p><p>That made me angry. I jumped down from the stool prepared to
shout at my father-in-law-to-be, but then I immediately stopped
swearing how the pain hit me. Which was even better, because that
was the moment when my mother-in-law-to-be just came through the
fireplace, so she heard some rather creative words I used. She,
however, was completely unfazed.</p><p>“Hello, Anna! Hello, James, what’s going on?”</p><p>“First, Mum, Dad, let me reintroduce you to my fiancée, Annabel
May Charlton.”</p><p>The face of the Aunt Ginny lightened up.</p><p>“Oh, finally! Congratulations to both of you! Welcome to the
family, Anna!”</p><p>However, Uncle Harry was still suspicious.</p><p>“James? What’s going on? If talking about marriage is an
emergency, then I am afraid to ask.”</p><p>James immediately turned crimson red and I felt my embarrassment
had to show as well.</p><p>“No, Dad, nothing like that. I am afraid this is really a case
for you. We were driving a bike to come here, to visit Annie’s
parents, and we passed the bridge over the River Coquet, somebody
attacked us. The Reductor Curse straight to the middle of the
bike. I didn’t have a second to react to it. Annie got hurt, she
has a broken arm, and something else, and I didn’t know how much
danger we are in. So, I took her and apparated us here. I admit,
the situation probably sped up my asking, but I was seriously
contemplating it for some time, I even have the ring at home, and
she said yes.”</p><p>He was very tense when he started to talk with his father, but
I was charmed seeing how his face completely lit up talking about
me saying yes. Aunt Ginny moved fast to me.</p><p>“Anna, which hand is it?”</p><p>“This one is broken, and the other one,” I have lifted my jumper
and shown my hands, “has this gash on it. There was some piece of
metal sticking out of the crash barrier which cut me pretty
badly. James did something with that gash, but he was not sure
how to heal a broken limb well. It doesn’t hurt so much any-more
when I am not jumping from a stool. James immobilized it by some
spell.”</p><p>“Yes, but that is just a very temporary solution, I really need
to take a look at it.</p><p>Guys, Harry, shouldn’t you leave for that place of crime? I need
to look at this, and we don’t need any guys around when Anna
needs to take down her shirt.”</p><p>I was surprised when even adult Uncle Harry turned red
embarrassed, and James immediately took him by his arm, turned at
the spot, and both vanished with a loud crack.</p><p>Aunt Ginny looked around with a bit of disapproval to the thin
layer of dust which covered everything, but then she turned to
me.</p><p>“So, is there any pain right now?”</p><p>I have checked myself and decided at that very moment there is no
significant pain going on.</p><p>“I think the problem earlier was moving, when I am just standing
here, there is nothing in serious pain, but yes, I am bruised and
sore all over my body.”</p><p>She relaxed a bit, and then finally she really smiled again.</p><p>“Welcome back to Drakeshaugh, Anna. I am so glad to see you
again. You grew up in a lovely woman.</p><p>This will take a moment to fix you, and I would like to have us
more comfortable for that. And I am so glad, I can use charms in
front of you.”</p><p>With these words, she waved her wand once and suddenly all dust
around us disappeared. Another wave of the wand and a kettle on
the stove flew under the tap and filled itself with water. Then
it returned and the water was boiling in a minute. She looked at
me cautiously and apologized.</p><p>“James told me how much you like good tea, so sorry, for your
return to Drakeshaugh I have only old Darjeeling, which I am
afraid is a bit stale.”</p><p>I felt like we will never get out of embarrassment this evening.</p><p>“Aunt Ginny, don’t be silly, of course, I don’t know what James
told you, but I am not stupid. I would love to have a cuppa. And
I am sure it will be a lovely one. Thank you.”</p><p>Only when tea and some biscuits were on the bar, she asked me to
sit back on the stool. Pulling down the jacket and shirt which
were stuck with blood to my body was quite unpleasant, and doing
it using just one hand which cannot move well was even worse, but
we have managed. It felt strangely homely but weird when I was
sitting in the kitchen in front of my mother-in-law-to-be just in
my bra, but she was looking at me with a completely professional
attitude and waved her wand first over a large gash on my left
hand. She was happy with her findings, so she waved over it and
spoke firmly “<em>Episkey!</em>” The wound immediately closed and the
hand was whole again.</p><p>“Wow! That is awesome! Can you do something with the broken hand
too?”</p><p>“I am sorry, not that easily. I will conjure a splint over it,
and then you will get <em>Skele-gro</em>, and I get you some
pain-relieving potion. Both of these taste horrible, but they
should help a lot. Sorry, it will be whole back only in the
morning!”</p><p>“What? Only in the morning? Overnight healing for a broken arm?
That’s unbelievable!”</p><p>She smiled a bit.</p><p>“Right, the Muggle way it would take longer, right? Overnight is
the best I can do.”</p><p>She turned to a cabinet above the stove and pulled out two small
bottles one with white content and the other one deep purple. She
let me down the purple one and it tasted rather unpleasant, but
nothing extraordinary, some medicines I used were worse. Then she
filled a tablespoon with the very thick liquid and handed the
spoon to me.</p><p>“It really tastes horrible, just get it down and don’t think
about it.”</p><p>She was right, the whole thing smelled like a combination of
smelling socks and rotten vegetables, and I almost couldn’t
swallow it, but I focused my mind on tea standing in front of me,
and let the horrible liquid flow down my throat, followed by the
whole cup of tea just to wash away the horrible taste.</p><p>“It better be useful, because it is really horrible.</p><p>I should contact my parents; they will start to worry pretty
soon. They expect us for dinner.”</p><p>“Anna, remember you shouldn’t tell them anything about us being
here. Unfortunately, part of living on the frontier between the
magical and Muggle world as we were living is that you have to be
prepared to have a cover story for all life situations. Yes, I am
asking you to learn to lie, but there is not much to do about it,
I am afraid. We should eventually be able to fix the situation
with your parents and Henry, I hope, but for others, yes, it
sucks.</p><p>You cannot explain even why we are suddenly back in the
Drakeshaugh without awkward problems. I swear, I will do
whatever possible to renew contact with them soon. I miss your
Mum a lot, but don’t put yourself in trouble by talking about us
now. You had an accident on a bike, James took you here and gave
you first aid and fresh clothes. Don’t tell them the hand was
broken, because you cannot explain why it is going to be fixed so
soon. You will get down to Lintzgarth in an hour.</p><p>And I should really get you some clean shirt. I will try to do
something about that jacket, but the shirt is so soaked in blood
and torn, that you should probably forget about it.”</p><p>I nodded and thought about what to tell my Mum. Then I pulled out
my phone and called her. The conversation went as expected, and
although I was tempted to mention the engagement, I decided not
to do anything about it without James present. She was concerned,
worried and excited in the right places, and she agreed that they
will wait for us in an hour. When I hung up, Ginny came back with
a white shirt and a jumper.</p><p>“Bathroom with shower is down those stairs to the left, and
I have found this shirt, which Hermione left here some time ago;
she is slightly taller than me, so the shirt should fit better.
And I think this is old Lily’s jumper, so that should fit as
well. And don’t worry about the bandage, it can go underwater.”</p><p>I went to the bathroom and was struck how suddenly a lot of
things made sense. Of course, all lights were turning on
automatically when I went to the particular room, like with
a light sensor. Water in the shower was voice-controlled (which
was incredibly convenient). I finally felt like I was allowed to
enter a new hidden world with a lot of miracles. I managed to do
my shower even with just one hand, but I haven’t found
a blow-dryer, and whatever I tried to do with my trousers, they
were still kind of dirty. I returned to the kitchen clean, in
much better shape than before, but not completely ready to face
my mum.</p><p>Ginny took just one look at me and started to apologize.</p><p>“Damn, I forgot, of course, I will dry your hair. There is
a charm for it.”</p><p>She waived with her wand in a strange pattern and suddenly all
dirt from the trousers vanished. Another swish and strong stream
of hot dry air lifted my hair and made them dry in a minute.
However, she then rather firmly asked me to sit.</p><p>“Harry sent me a message that they will be back in ten minutes,
so we need to talk fast.”</p><p>I haven’t understood, but I lost a bit of composure from her
rather stern look at me. I felt like when my Mum wanted to scold
me.</p><p>“Anna, you were absolutely not surprised when we have shown magic
to you. Please, be absolutely honest, and tell me: did James tell
you? Even if he broke the law, don’t cover for him, I need to
know, so we can agree on how to talk with Harry.”</p><p>I didn’t know what to say. On the one hand as a law student,
I knew I needed help from somebody who has an idea about the laws
which were completely unfamiliar to me, but it felt too much like
a betrayal of James. How could I betray my fiancée not even an
hour into the engagement? My uncertainty was obvious because
Ginny picked up on it.</p><p>“Anna, I am his mother. And after the mess they made with Harry
a couple of years ago, we just couldn’t afford another round of
that, I don’t think their relationship would survive. I couldn’t
lie to Harry, but I am certain I can persuade him not to ask
questions where he doesn’t want to hear the answers.”</p><p>So, I was right. This was the same as when she discovered we
broke the window playing footie. This was the person
I remembered. Fiercely kind and friendly, but strict and honest,
and yet able to navigate the treacherous waters if these two
loyalties got in a conflict. I suddenly knew that I could trust
her with James.</p><p>“Yes and no. No, James didn’t tell me anything since we’ve
met in Sheffield until I said ’yes’ here. He was actually
very careful not to say anything, even when it almost caused
a fight between us. Neither did other kids tell us anything. The
only piece of magic I have seen in that time was when he … how do
you call it? … teleported us here? Actually, there was one more
time all of us seven got somehow transported from here to
Sheffield in a moment, but I really don’t know what they did
… did your kids do something to my and Henry’s memory? I don’t
know.</p><p>However, yes, of course, he and Rose and Al and Lily and Hugo
told us with Henry everything when we were kids. We were made to
forget everything when we were … actually, that’s a matter of
dispute among all seven of us, when our memories were modified,
but it was not that long after my glorious eleventh birthday.
However, when I met him, I started to have really weird dreams
about the things which were impossible. Try to imagine how
I felt, when one night out of nothing, I, a perfectly normal
girl, dreamed about myself being tortured by a curse. Then more
dreams came, and then we met, all seven of us, we both with
Henry remembered almost everything.”</p><p>Ginny looked at me sharply.</p><p>“You dreamed what? Being tortured by a curse?”</p><p>“Yes, we were standing on the top of the Drakestone, looking for
someone, I didn’t know at the time who it was, and I was suddenly
hit by a curse, which made my whole body be in pain. Even in that
dream, it was something so horrible, I couldn’t imagine how
I could come with the idea of so much pain on my own.”</p><p>I stopped because now Ginny looked completely angry. She stopped
me sharply.</p><p>“I am sorry to ask you again, but I have to be absolutely hundred
percent certain that I hear correctly. That wasn’t just a dream,
was it?”</p><p>“No, it apparently wasn’t, but I have remembered that only later,
first, it was really just a very weird dream.”</p><p>“Somebody tortured you with a curse?”</p><p>“Most likely, well, let me rephrase. I really don’t know how much
my restored memories could be used as evidence in the court of
law, but if I remember correctly, and some other wizard didn’t
plan this memory into me then I remember quite clearly that this
truly happened and I have even the whole story explaining it.”</p><p>There was a long moment of silence. Then Ginny went for more
questions.</p><p>“You mentioned it a minute ago all seven of you had their
memories modified, not only you and Henry. Did I understand you
correctly?”</p><p>“Yes, that’s what we were talking about recently, and it seems
so.”</p><p>“OK, then it is very simple. I will have to let Harry know, and
he needs to bring his people here. What you are saying could mean
quite nasty criminal investigation. So, we have to do everything
very much by the book, and I shouldn’t talk with you about it too
much beforehand. Just one more question, when you said you were
tortured by a curse, did you see it coming? What colour had it?”</p><p>“Actually, I saw it come just dimly, by the corner of my eye, but
it had that colour all the time it was one me, which was just
some seconds I believe, although it felt like an eternity. It was
a red light, but not a nice red like roses, but kind of dirty red
towards a brown a bit, like a blood stain.”</p><p>Ginny didn’t say a word and pulled the mirror out of her pocket,
and spoke to it firmly, but rather quietly. “Harry?”</p><p>The answer came in a couple of seconds, I saw Harry showing up in
the mirror in dim light, not very well visible.</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Can you talk?”</p><p>“Yes, we are just in the front yard of Drakeshaugh in fact. We
have left somebody to collect evidence at the place of the
attack.”</p><p>“I see, come here then, but I am afraid we are not done here yet.
You will need somebody from the office to come.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Come in.”</p><p>The outside doors opened and closed and both men ran to the
kitchen. They thought that something sinister was going on in the
house, so they had their wands out and ready.</p><p>“No, just that I was right I am afraid. And before Anna tells you
about their memories, I think you need somebody from the office
to make it into the official protocol.”</p><p>Harry looked at me very closely. I was a bit nervous under his
eyes, but in the end, he turned to Ginny.</p><p>“Are you absolutely certain that this is something which should
be written into the official protocol?”</p><p>I have basically repeated all that I said to Ginny, and he was
listening to me very carefully, looking slightly angry at James.
However, when he spoke, there was more fear than just anger in
his voice.</p><p>“James, so you were as kids breaking the International Statute of
Secrecy for years?”</p><p>I still didn’t understand what was going on, but the tension
between James and his father was considerable.</p><p>“Dad, I know that this is important, but couldn’t we let it go
for a moment, and speak in the morning, please? I have my future
parents-in-law waiting with dinner, and I am certain that this
will be a long discussion, not something for a few sentences.
This is if anything a ten-year old case, so postponing the
interview by one night won’t change anything.”</p><p>I was afraid that Uncle Harry was so angry that he won’t let it
go, but he surprised me. He turned to me and said: “I am sorry,
Anna, James is right, we shouldn’t let your parents wait. Yes, do
you think it would be possible to meet here in the morning, let’s
say at nine, and I will be better prepared for the proper
official interview? And yes, if what you told me is really so,
then you could help a lot to make people who made your life
complicated be punished for this mess. I would really appreciate
it if you could help me to get them.”</p><p>“Uncle Harry, …”</p><p>“Just Harry, please.”</p><p>“Right, yes, I am a law student, it is my duty to help law, and
it would be fun to find out how your law enforcement works. We
will be here. I guess, if there was some problem with time, James
can connect you via that mirror thingy, right?”</p><p>Harry just nodded while James was drawing me out of the room,
calling our goodbyes to his parents. When we left the house, he kissed
me again. We could enjoy ourselves a little longer, but this time it was
me who interrupted us.</p><p>“James, we should really go. It is at least twenty minutes’ walk,
and I have promised to be there in five minutes.”</p><p>James kissed me again and when I struggled to get away from him,
he calmly told us we had enough time.</p><p>“We will probably apparate there to make it on time anyway. Will
you be able to make it once more today?”</p><p>“Will it get better, or I should prepare to throw again all over
this jumper, which is not even mine?”</p><p>“I am afraid it won’t get better, I heard that side-along
apparition is always a horrible experience for Muggles, but
I think you will eventually learn how to endure it. If you just
let it go and you won’t fight it, you may eventually learn to
survive it without vomiting.”</p><p>“Thanks for words of hope. Oh well, let’s do it.”</p><p>James embraced me completely and when we reappeared in the field
behind the Lintzgarth, the feeling was horrible, but at least
I didn’t throw up this time. Oh well.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Next morning in Drakeshaugh</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The dinner with my parents was nice and peaceful. They were
excited about their engagement, but they were even happier when
I declared that we didn’t plan to abandon my studies and start my
career. Anyway, James had to admit to my dad, that no, he didn’t
have the salary at the moment to provide for me, but that if the
worst came to the worst, we could probably get backed up by the
wealth of Potter’s family. After I settled down my rage from this
stupid question, we had a pleasant evening. Now, when I was
looking from the inside, I had to appreciate James’ trained
skills of avoiding problematic questions and transferring the
conversation to less dangerous subjects.</p><p>Considering our engagement, my parents without even discussing it
allowed us to be both in my old bedroom together. However, I was
still so tired and sore, that I quickly agreed that we would
postpone the proper celebration to sometime later, and that night
we truly just slept. We got up early and after a quick breakfast,
we actually went walking to Drakeshaugh. Both my father and James
suggested faster modes of transportation, but I have insisted
that I would like to actually walk. It was our first private time
together as the engaged couple, and I really wanted to make sure
we have some plans how our engagement and our future work
together. After a nice walk by the West Wood, we arrived with
some small interruptions on the way at James’ parents’ house
after less than half-an-hour.</p><p>Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were already waiting for us. It was
very much how I remembered Aunt Ginny waiting on us with a large
breakfast prepared. I was trying to reject it claiming that we
have already had breakfast, but James gave up immediately, he
knew his mother too well, and in the end, I was nibbling on her
excellent scones and having tea while we were talking. Together
with them, there was the tall woman, roughly as tall as me,
dark-skinned with curly black hair, and very fit, in the police
uniform.</p><p>Harry also introduced us to her.</p><p>“Anna, this is Detective Inspector Tallulah Smith, who works with
us on many of our cases.”</p><p>I was not sure what cases he meant, but I was not hiding my
surprise.</p><p>“Detective Inspector? But that’s a rank in the normal, what do
you call it, Muggle police, isn’t it?”</p><p>She smiled and offered me a handshake.</p><p>“Yes, I am a perfectly respectable Muggle. Well, respectable,
I was in this assignment so long, I am getting a distance from
the Muggle world. But yes, I work for the Metropolitan Police,
and I am just on the assignment with the Auror Office. That’s why
Harry asked me to be here.”</p><p>“How? I mean, James was lecturing me yesterday on the harsh
penalties of breaking the Statute of Secrecy. So, the police
know? This sounds like a paranoid <em>X-files</em> conspiracy. Are we
just living in <em>The Matrix</em>?”</p><p>“No, it is not so bad. Well, there is a conspiracy, but it is not
so widespread and it is certainly not an illegal one. The Prime
Minister is completely read-in, so when the magical police need
cooperation from the Muggle one, they can ask him to make the
call. And, I guess, …” she looked questioning to Harry, “… Her
Majesty is in the know as well?”</p><p>Harry nodded and responded.</p><p>“Yes, she, her husband, and the Prince of Wales are read into.
She has even a tiny magical protection unit hidden under the many
layers of the protective red tape, which is completely separate
from the Ministry of Magic.”</p><p>My head was aching again, but the woman continued.</p><p>“For the most magical population this is not very important, the
two worlds are living next to each other quite separately and
witches and wizards usually don’t even think about it, but of
course there are problems where the lines between the two worlds
are too close, like in the law enforcement, and I guess, …” she
was checking with Uncle Harry again, “… St. Mungo has its own
special arrangements as well.</p><p>And there are some other small and inconspicuous arrangements
which make two worlds living next to each other possible. For
example, Mr Potter’s cousin is a policeman, nothing special, just
a Detective Sergeant, but somehow through the office of the Prime
Minister and MI5 he has got absolutely ridiculously high
security-clearance and permission to get any information from any
police database without presenting any reasons. Nobody notices
anything, but when we need for example information about house
ownership or owner of some particular car, we can get the
information swiftly and without any hitches.”</p><p>Harry nodded again and continued.</p><p>“Yes, this is how it works, but that is not the point why we are
telling you this. This is not about boasting. You are a student
of law, and so I wanted to make it perfectly clear to you, that
there is absolutely nothing illegal going on. Even from the
Muggle side of the law, this is perfectly correct. Yes, secret,
but you are not joining some terrorist organization or anything.
There are even royal charters establishing all this from the time
when the Statute of Secrecy was ratified, that’s sometime around
The Glorious Revolution.”</p><p>That sounded completely fascinating to me. Completely separate
system of laws in the country I live in! However, before I could
start to nourish my curiosity, Harry stopped the flow of my
thoughts.</p><p>“So much for the assurance, and now we can get to the business.
Let me set up the parchment and quills.”</p><p>Uncle Harry turned to the small table, and he started to pull
some parchments and other stuff from a suitcase he brought. I saw
my opportunity to satisfy at least partially my curiosity, so
I have asked the ladies who were sitting next to me and James.</p><p>“Did Uncle Harry say ‘ratified’? Does it mean that that statute
is actually an international treaty?”</p><p>Ms Smith smiled.</p><p>“Of course, you would pick this up. Yes, I have no idea why it is
called the statute when it is a convention. Some historical
reasons, I guess. There is the International Confederacy of
Wizards, kind of the equivalent of the magical United Nations,
which oversees the Statute. So, when the British Ministry fought
for the accepting Involved Muggles Amendment, we had to work
through international diplomacy to get it through, and they say
it was an absolutely horrible experience.”</p><p>Aunt Ginny smiled at me.</p><p>“The main drafting work was done by Hermione, mum of Hugo and
Rose, and both her and Harry were saying that the main impetus
for suggesting the change was their experience with your family.”</p><p>I was so shocked and embarrassed that I couldn’t say a word. Ms
Smith, however, jumped to my rescue.</p><p>“Ginny, you are too melodramatic, you were with The Daily Prophet
for too long. That experience may have pushed their butts to do
something, but the main reasons were much more pragmatic. The
situation was just a mess before. The Statute works with nicely
divided worlds of us Wizards and them Muggles, but life was just
too complicated. So, the Wizengamot, that is the British magical
parliament, had to make a special law before I could work for the
Auror Office because I had no official standing under the
Statute. Whenever stray spells from the magical criminal activity
hit a Muggle, he was in St. Mungo, and the Ministry had basically
an equivalent of an international situation on its hands. It was
just unbearable. There is not enough wizarding clergy in Britain,
and especially if you are not from CoE, then you are almost
always out of luck. Roman Catholic wizards repeatedly wiping
memory of their priest after every Sacrament of Confession just
felt wrong, especially when it was mostly unnecessary because
even a Muggle priest can be expected to keep his mouth shut
because of the Seal of Confession. The same goes for MI5: we
somehow missed, or we chose to miss, that there are Muggles who
work with much more sensitive information than just the existence
of the magical world. The Statute just didn’t work well.”</p><p>Meanwhile, Uncle Harry finished his preliminaries, and he was
waiting for us.</p><p>I had a hard time to look for a longer time on the beautiful
quill which stood on its own in the air, writing on the piece of
parchment on his own. It just looked wrong. However, I had to
admit that it worked really well. Just in front of me, it created
the perfect transcript of the interview (multi-coloured, one
colour for each participant).</p><p>We have finished explaining all our stories as children, and how
all seven of us started to dream about our memories after I first
met James in Sheffield all those months ago. When we finished,
everybody looked at each other, and we didn’t know what to say.
First admitting it was Uncle Harry.</p><p>“OK, I have no clue how two Muggles can break through the
professional Obliviation, and I have even less clue how to
interpret this whole history in the view of the law. Tallulah?
Any legal ideas?”</p><p>The policewoman just shook her head, saying nothing.
Surprisingly, it was James who replied.</p><p>“I think I have two theories on what could have been going on.
I haven’t mentioned it, because you haven’t asked yet, but all
seven of us, when the oldest ones, me and Henry, were just ten,
created a compact, and marked it with a drop of our blood each.
How significant it could be?”</p><p>Both Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry jumped up in their seats with
eyes wide opened.</p><p>“WHAT?”</p><p>They looked completely shocked and incapable of saying anything
more. I looked at the policewoman with a question in my eyes, she
looked back at me, but she just shook her head. She was however
visibly more used to admitting her own ignorance in front of the
magical world, and so she asked.</p><p>“Ehm, I haven’t got this one yet. What’s going on?”</p><p>Harry turned to her.</p><p>“You have heard about the Unbreakable Oath, haven’t you?”</p><p>Now, even Ms Smith looked panicking and nodded.</p><p>“So, that charm originates only from the sixteenth or seventeenth
century. Until then the blood oath, Geas in the Old English, was
the standard way to achieve the same.”</p><p>“Oh, shit.”</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>I cannot hold it longer.</p><p>“Could anybody, please, explain to this ignorant Muggle what we
did?”</p><p>James got a bit pink when he recognized he had ignored my
confusion, and he turned to me.</p><p>“The Unbreakable Oath is just a charm, which one makes when
promising something to another.”</p><p>“Thank you, I am not completely stupid, and I know what the word
‘oath’ means. But how is it unbreakable? What happens when you
break the promise?”</p><p>“You die.”</p><p>“Shit.”</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>“You mean, … you mean to say, that if I was blabbing about what
we promised then, I would die?”</p><p>James slightly shook his head.</p><p>“I really don’t know for certain. We haven’t included any
sanctions in that covenant, and we certainly haven’t meant it
like that, and the intent is always a very important part of any
magic. However, there was so much power in this oath that we
broke through professionally obliviated memories, and I am really
not curious enough to try to find out what would happen if that
power turns against us, if it does.”</p><p>“I see. Hmm, what do you mean ‘professionally obliviated’?”</p><p>“Do you remember that Obliviator Raymond Patterson?”</p><p>“Yes, he was a spooky guy. He looked so perfect; I haven’t
believed him for one second he meant well.”</p><p>“I wish I was so smart as you when I befriended his son. Oh well.</p><p>Well, yes, him. There are professionals modifying human memories
as their job. Mostly Muggles who learn by accident something they
shouldn’t. He was very good at it.</p><p>Dad, how many times have you heard about somebody breaking into
professionally obliviated memories?”</p><p>Now it was Uncle Harry’s opportunity to shake his head.</p><p>“Never. He was excellent at it. Quite a cold-hearted guy, he was
always perfect.”</p><p>“Was? Is he …?”</p><p>“No, it is even worse in some aspects. He quit his job to enter
politics. He now stands as a candidate for the post of the
Minister of Magic against my Aunt Hermione.”</p><p>“Fuck. I mean, sorry for my language, but I would really not want
this man to be in power.”</p><p>“As I said, you are smarter than me, and I am really afraid you
may be smarter than most of magical Britain.”</p><p>“That is not good.”</p><p>Harry interrupted us here.</p><p>“Sorry, I let you ramble for too long. Can we return to the
relevant matters?</p><p>James, you said that you have two reasons why you think Anna and
Henry broke through the obliviation. So, this blood contract is
one, what’s the second?”</p><p>James stopped, he was focusing for a moment and started again.</p><p>“OK, talking about things which shouldn’t be talked about. There
is a magical object, but I don’t think anybody out of the family
should know about it. Technically, probably, even we shouldn’t
know about it, but I think at this moment this may be necessary.
Ms Smith, I am sorry, but could I ask you to step out for
a moment, and could you stop that quill, please?”</p><p>I have looked at her with an apology.</p><p>“I am sorry, Ms Smith, but my Mum was always against showing this
to anybody.”</p><p>The officer looked with a question on Harry, but he nodded, so
she took the quill, put it on the other table, and she left the
room. Harry and Ginny were looking with a question in their eyes
on us.</p><p>I took off my jumper, and then I pulled out the pendant with the
bloodstone I had underneath my T-shirt. Harry looked interested,
but it was Ginny who looked really shocked. She couldn’t
comprehend what she saw.</p><p>“Is this …? I can’t believe it! Is this real?”</p><p>Harry looked at her with suspicion.</p><p>“I mean, this is a very nice pendant, looks very old and Celtic,
but what’s the matter with you?”</p><p>James looked at her smiling.</p><p>“I don’t know for sure, but yes, I believe that this is real.”</p><p>Ginny looked at both of us with her jaw down. Then she turned to
Harry.</p><p>“You don’t have any idea, do you? I cannot believe it, I saw just
a few bad pictures of it, but it really looks like the Merlin’s
Claw.”</p><p>“The Merlin’s Claw? I have no idea what you are talking about.
Remember, I was a muggle-raised wizard who slept through most of
the Binn’s classes.”</p><p>James smiled at them.</p><p>“I believe it is the Merlin’s Claw, but I couldn’t make a bigger
investigation, and I think I would rather not do it now, not
mentioning Anna won’t let me study it much, which is probably
right. And no, it wasn’t Merlin’s, but if this the thing, then it
was owned by Gwenddydd, his twin sister.”</p><p>Harry turned to me.</p><p>“Anna, is this true?”</p><p>“I don’t know, really. The tradition in my family is that it was
given from mother to the oldest daughter for many generations,
but I could trace it only as far as what my Granny Wake told me
about what her grandmother had told her. Fun fact is that the
tradition is also that our family has always had a daughter in
every generation for centuries, but that’s all I know for
certain.”</p><p>Harry stretched out his hand towards me.</p><p>“Can I?”</p><p>I shook my head. “Just look, no touch.” and I kept the bloodstone
claw in front of his eyes. He looked at it for a long time, and
he turned to James.</p><p>“There are some runes on it. Did you translate them?”</p><p>“I was waiting whether you ask,” James smiled, “Yes, I have
translated it. It says ‘Falcon flies alone, without its father.’”</p><p>Ginny finally collected herself and said.</p><p>“Do you know that the oldest legends, not preserved by Muggles,
talk about the prophecy about Merlin as ‘a child born without
a father’, right?” <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id2">1</a></p><p>Now it was my turn to be surprised.</p><p>“I didn’t know that. Actually, I have never been able to decipher
what those signs mean. What language is it?”</p><p>James seemed to be happy to fill me in.</p><p>“No surprise there. It is not very well known even among wizards,
who study Ancient Runic languages a lot, and I think it is mostly
unknown by Muggles. It is called Rhaetian and it was spoken in
pre-Roman times by people in the Eastern Alps. Magical folks
still study these Ancient languages, because some of them have
strong magical characteristics.”</p><p>“What do you mean, that the language has magical
characteristics?”</p><p>“Exactly what I said. When somebody inscribed those runes on your
jewel, they could infuse it with magic, which could be present
there till this day.”</p><p>“Wow. Can you find out whether there is any magic there?”</p><p>Harry pulled out his wand.</p><p>“Yes, I can, probably better than James, detection of magic is
a fairly common job for any Auror. However, I would have to make
some magic over that jewel. Can I?”</p><p>“Do you promise that it won’t do anything to it?”</p><p>“Yes, I don’t want to do anything to it, just find out what magic
is included. There will be just a bit of light around it, which
makes it possible to analyse it.”</p><p>He waved his wand above my pendant and a huge ultra-bright flash
of light made us blind for a moment. We all moved to avoid the
light and all four of us fell on our backs on the floor.
Surprisingly, it was me who asked first. I was angry.</p><p>“You said ‘a bit of light’! What the fuck was this?”</p><p>Harry looked at his wand as if it was guilty of treason.</p><p>“OK, this was more than a bit. I had no idea. Change of the
analysis: there is not a bit of magic in your pendant. There is
a lot of it, it is soaked in it. And it is some very ancient
magic which I have no idea how it works. I promise I will never
do anything like this again, and don’t let anybody do it either.</p><p>And yes, I completely reversed my conclusion. This could very
well be from Merlin’s times, and then your mother was right,
James. Anna, it would be probably completely unique, and the
price could be absolutely anything, and you would be a way better
if nobody knew what you have on your neck. For the Muggle
parallel, imagine you have on your neck a pendant of Athelswith,
the sister of Alfred the Great. You would be pushing away thieves
all day long. And given the magic and how long it was in your
family, I don’t think it is a good idea to take it down from your
neck and store it in some safe. Just don’t show it to anybody.”</p><p>They were still sitting on the floor, and Uncle Harry completely
ignored how undignified it looked, and he was sitting there
contemplating the situation. Finally, he looked at me.</p><p>“And I have absolutely no idea what it means for your legal
situation. There is the statute of limitations, which should
cover at least part of your actions, but I don’t think it matters
much for your current knowledge of secrets. Or rather, you are
probably covered by the engagement, but I have no idea about
Henry’s situation. However, if you unwittingly put yourself in
the situation when you cannot be obliviated and you are magically
compelled to share the truth with magical people, … I have no
idea.</p><p>The other question is what’s the criminal responsibility of all
magical children who told you the secret. But the oldest one was
ten, so the responsibility is probably on us. But there is the
statute of limitations again. And there is apparently no damage.
And we had no clue about all this. And the magical compulsion to
the mix. Oh boy.</p><p>OK, I know what I could do. I can take it as an anonymous and
hypothetical question to the Wizengamot Prosecution Service. Of
course, they will know I cover some real situation, but it is not
the first time I asked them to evaluate the hypothetical, so we
can decide how to proceed in the investigation.</p><p>OK, next.”</p><p>Only then he noticed he had been sitting on the floor, we all
stood up, sat back on the chair at the kitchen table, and I put
on my jumper again. Then he stood up again and called back Ms
Smith, and they set up swiftly the interview recording stuff back
again.</p><p>“So, I am of course personally interested in your situation, and
I will have to handle it to somebody else who doesn’t have the
conflict of interest, but it is not the most important piece of
information I asked you to meet us this morning, Anna.”</p><p>My eyebrows went up.</p><p>“It isn’t?”</p><p>He turned very serious, suddenly he was a police officer looking
at the grave case and not my friendly Uncle Harry.</p><p>“No, it isn’t. You both have said to Ginny that ‘you all’ were
obliviated when you, Anna, was eleven. Is it true? Answer me both
of you, separately, please.”</p><p>I volunteered first.</p><p>“Yes and no. We all had our memories somehow modified. And one
thing we have a hard time to agree upon is for example when it
actually happened. Before I met James in Sheffield last year,
I always believed that I saw for the last time him, Lily, and
other magical kids, after the disaster of my eleventh birthday.
However, now I found some memories which we both have with Henry
and which are inconsistent with that. For example, we both with
Henry remember a conflict we all had whether to admit to our gang
Al’s best friend Scorpius Malfoy. And all your kids are certain
that we cannot have this conflict for another two years.</p><p>So, I believe that memories of all of us were somehow modified,
but to varying degrees, and I think your kids had much more
memory preserved.”</p><p>Uncle Harry turned to James.</p><p>“Yes, I basically agree with all what Anna said. I also believed
that we’d lost touch around the time I hurt her on her eleventh
birthday, but yes, we discovered some inconsistencies with that
timing, and also, I have discovered that even the situation with
her birthday was quite different from what I remembered. I truly
prepared a prank on Annie, and it would be probably rather
unpleasant, but it was Craig Patterson who put there ten times
more of Bubotuber pus, which made it really painful and dangerous
for Annie. I somehow forgot all that. And that is not all.”</p><p>Harry looked at him sharply.</p><p>“And do you understand what this means?”</p><p>James nodded sadly.</p><p>“Yes, the more painful and personal consequence is that my whole
friendship with Craig has been built at least partially on the
lie. Yes, he turned to be an ass, when he cheated on Lily, but
I hoped that at least some of our relationship was true. Much
more important generally is that illegal obliviation of magical
children of the Head Auror and the Minister of Magic is a legal
disaster. He may get to Azkaban for it for a long time, not
mentioning he can forget his political career. However, I don’t
know how you mean to prove all this. Obliviated memories of
children which were suddenly recovered without an explanation and
against all magical logic … you cannot even dream about using it
as evidence at the court.”</p><p>I didn’t have to be a witch to understand that this is the
litigation disaster waiting to happen. Harry saw it as well.</p><p>“Of course, there is no chance I can use your memories in court.
Moreover, I don’t know if it would help or hinder Charltons’ case
for them being recognized as the Involved Muggles. Although, they
may be more involved than they hope for.” He snorted. “I really
should leave these thoughts to our lawyers; it is really
complicated.</p><p>However, nothing in the world stops me to use this as the impetus
for my own investigation. So, is there anything more you may
remember?”</p><p>I was sitting there, thinking, and then it was obvious.</p><p>“Most likely, if somebody wanted to mess up with our memories,
then it was because we saw something, he didn’t want us to
remember. What was the last thing we saw, James?”</p><p>“Oh, Mrs Peculiar Pink-Person? No, and don’t worry, I won’t
mention those other titles you gave her, Annie. I have some sense
of dignity.”</p><p>Harry was curious.</p><p>“Who was that woman?”</p><p>I have tried to answer.</p><p>“I think her name was Dorothy … no, not Dorothy, something even
weirder. … It sounded like a Spanish name.”</p><p>Everybody else was silently waiting on me not willing to push me
in any direction.</p><p>“Right, the name was Dolores, but I don’t remember the last name.
That was something very English, I think. Do you know who she
was? What happened to her?”</p><p>Uncle Harry snorted.</p><p>“Yes, of course, I know her. We have a long painful history
together. She was following Drakeshaugh, then you were following
her, she attacked you, and after some more adventures, she was
caught, and after she was convicted of using the Cruciatus Curse
on some witnesses of her crimes, she is now finally in Azkaban
for life. That’s the matter of public record. Do you have
anything more to add to it, Annie?”</p><p>I was sitting there, sipping my now rather cold tea, and I was
trying to squeeze my poor brain to remember. The picture in my
head was getting slowly clearer.</p><p>“There was somebody else with her. Two rough men. Hmm, how to
describe them.”</p><p>Harry was just listening, letting me work on my memory, but James
commented.</p><p>“I don’t think I saw anybody. I was jumping to the ground for
cover so quick, I didn’t really look for anybody else.”</p><p>I finally recalled something.</p><p>“Both of them had long black coats, and one of them was somehow
strange. Why do I think about a pirate? No, he had both legs, but
he was somehow sinister … ah, I got it … one of those men had an
eye patch on … my right, his left eye.”</p><p>Uncle Harry was suddenly very focused.</p><p>“Are you absolutely certain that he had just one eye functional?
Anything else interesting about his looks?”</p><p>I was trying to focus on that moment again. It was hard because
immediately after that I was hit with that incredible painful
curse and it tended to cover this really very brief shard of
memory. No, he wasn’t looking dangerous just because of one eye,
but there was something more.</p><p>“He also had a large scar all over his face, from his top left,
over that eye, to the right part of his jaw. He looked really
wild.”</p><p>Once Harry heard what I said, he waved with his wand and the
quill stopped.</p><p>“OK, so this is the point, where I have to stop this interview,
and I have to excuse myself from this whole investigation. And
I have no clue, how to continue because I believe everybody in
the Auror Office, one way or another, will be biased and in the
conflict of interest. I guess we will have to invite French
Aurors or something.”</p><p>“What? Who is that person?”</p><p>“I don’t think I can even tell you, because I would be
influencing a witness. Oh, Merlin, this is a mess!”</p><p>I have turned to James, who was suddenly also white as snow.</p><p>“Could two witnesses influence each other? You know who this was,
right?”</p><p>He nodded.</p><p>“Yes, I know, and I wish I wouldn’t. The person you described
looks very much like Raymond Patterson’s brother, who is
relatively a shady character, and who was seriously injured
during The Battle of Hogwarts. At least, he was on the right side
there.”</p><p>“Oh. Raymond Patterson, as in the guy who obliviated us and you?
And who is now running in the elections against your aunt?”</p><p>“And yes, almost everybody in the Auror Office is a personal
friend of both my Dad and Aunt Hermione, so it will be difficult
to find somebody unbiased. Dad, can you pass the investigation to
some regional Sheriff Office?”</p><p>“Yeah, probably, that’s one option. However, they are really not
equipped to launch this large Britain-wide detective
investigation. I don’t know what we will do yet.”</p><hr class="docutils"/><p>In the end, that and other options happened. Uncle Harry secretly
asked the French <span>Bureau des Aurors</span> to send
somebody to start the investigation, and so I spent two
afternoons in a small café near my University with the French
lady, who asked me very thoroughly about my story (fortunately,
she spoke perfect English). The rest I learned only from what
Uncle Harry and James told me. French Aurors soon found some
glaring holes in the explanations by Mr Patterson and the
investigation quickly grew into a nation-wide scandal. Tens of
sheriffs from multiple regional offices were ploughing through
the avalanche of records on obliviating, and they found some very
incriminating documents. Apparently, by obliviating witnesses, he
was covering some very nasty crimes of his brother.</p><p>Uncle Harry used the time when he was pushed from most of the
action in the Auror Office to swiftly investigate the case of
ambush against us with James, and he closed it pretty quickly.
Apparently, some son of a smuggler of cursed jewellery, who was
sent to Azkaban by Aurors, didn’t get over the shame of being
related to a criminal and decided to take his revenge on the son
of the Head Auror.</p><p>The case of our possible breach of the International Statute of
Secrecy caused a collective headache to all lawyers at the
Ministry. After a week of reading conflicting memos and legal
briefs, and considering that no actual damage was done, the chief
of the Wizengamot Prosecution Service gave up and persuaded the
Minister of Magic to ask Wizengamot to grant all us seven
children the blanket pardon for anything we did by breaking the
Statute of Secrecy. I have been already covered by my engagement,
but the officials decided that the current status of Henry and my
parents will be decided separately and I still couldn’t even tell
anything to my brother about ongoing proceedings.</p><p>I have however followed all these developments just from
distance. After a rather intense celebration of our engagement,
I have started to seriously contemplate where to go with our
relationship and how fast. Suddenly, when we agreed to be
eventually together, I had a hard time to find reasons why
‘eventually’ and why not to be together all the time. Yes,
I still wanted to finish school and started my legal career, but
I would really prefer to do all these things together with James.
And while I was brooding over our relationship, the impact of me
spending most of my time with James instead of with my legal
studies made itself felt as well, so I had to spend more time on
working on my thesis and school work.</p><dl class="footnote brackets">
<dt class="label"><span class="brackets"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id1">1</a></span></dt>
<dd>
<p>Merlin is even in the Muggle legends known as the one
without a father. Magical history of Merlin’s origin is
beautifully described in another story by Northumbrian,
“<a class="reference external" href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/7155281">Bloodstone</a>”.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Return to Lintzgarth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It has been confusing six months since our daughter Anna called
us one September morning to tell us she broke up with her
long-time boyfriend Simon Faversham. It was actually a relief to
us because our waiting was finally over. We have agreed with Mike
pretty soon after we first learnt about Simon, that he is not
a man we would like our daughter to be with, but we knew that she
is stubborn enough that any comments from us in this direction
would just strengthen her resolve to stay with him. So, we were
just waiting and trusting her clever head she will recognize it
as well, or perhaps we would be humbled, and we would all find
out how awesome man Simon was. In the end, it turned out that we
were probably right after all, and Annie called us that morning
to tell me with some little tears and a lot of anger how she
found Simon with another woman. We have later learnt from Henry
that Annie mentioned on her social network page (where she banned
access to us), that she met by chance James Potter the very same
day, but what followed was almost perfect radio silence. Yes, she
called us from time to time to tell us how her studies go, but
absolutely nothing about her relationships or about any of her
friends.</p><p>So, it was the biggest shock to me, when she called us one
Saturday morning and asked me whether they could come together in
the evening with James for dinner. She didn’t mention anything
special, so it was another big surprise when she turned up in
clothes which were certainly not her own, she was bruised with
one hand in a sling, announcing as the first thing they just got
engaged. It was weird, and suddenly I felt like back living next
to Potters when there were always those things which didn’t make
complete sense, but to my shock, it was like if Annie switched
from being on our side to being one of them now.</p><p>She was saying that her hand is all right, just bruised, and it
will be perfect in the morning, but when looking at her, that
hand looked like being stiff in a plaster. They were saying that
the bike slid, but it was very dry weather the last couple of
days, and James didn’t look very guilty, and, what is even more
remarkable, Annie was not angry with him. I was certain that
there was something they were not telling me, but Annie was
looking so incredibly happy, that I didn’t feel like interrupting
her glow, and we were happily chatting about everything else. And
again, there was something strange about their engagement:
apparently, it was so sudden, that she didn’t have a ring on her
hand. In the end, I have come to the same conclusion as before
with Simon: I could only decide whether I trusted them or not.
So, I let them tell their sanitized version of the last six
months of their life, and I have still enjoyed it very much.</p><p>We couldn’t talk too long, because even though Annie tried to
look like nothing happened she was tired and she needed her rest.
I could happily let them sleep in one bedroom, and after all,
they were engaged, and Anna looked so beaten, I was certain that
they were really only sleeping. In the morning, they quickly ate
their breakfast and walked away again.</p><p>I haven’t heard from them for another month or so, when one
morning Annie called me, whether they could come next Saturday
morning, that they have something important to tell us, and
whether they can bring James’ parents as well. The moment she
told me that I had immediately shouted that of course, they
should come, I so much wanted to see Ginny Potter again.</p><p>When I finished my call with Annie, I was so excited, that I was
just able to sit down and focus on my breathing. And at the same
time, I have been completely overwhelmed by the need to prepare
ourselves for the visit. Before the kids left for the university
(and Henry later for his job), I had hoped we would get our house
renovated and recover our social life once we won’t be
overwhelmed by the constant mess radiating from our children.
However, the truth is that when we were not meeting with the
parents of our children’s classmates, we were more isolated than
ever before. And whom I am kidding, Potters were our closest
friends, and when they left without much explanation, we were so
hurt, we didn’t manage to make new friends for a long time. And
with no need to entertain our visitors, we have never made enough
effort to fix our place and make it perfect again.</p><p>The panic attack subsided first when I mentioned my worries to
Mike. He reminded me that Potters knew us for almost ten years,
and so there was not much we can do to pretend to be somebody
else than we truly are. He also mentioned that evening with the
bottle of wine, Ron Weasley, and completely disgustingly ugly
orange hat, and suggested that if any Potter has even whiffed of
any negative thoughts in our direction, I should mention it.
After I stopped laughing (and after I finished the glass of the
fantastic Rhine Riesling he gave me), I decided to believe him,
and so I have cleaned our house only once on Thursday and for the
second time on Friday.</p><p>I was originally thinking about a nice BBQ party outside, the
weather was getting warm enough that we could sit on the patio,
but in the end, I have decided to go with the certain and simple
solution of Pork Chops á la Provençale with caramelized cognac
apples. Mike bought us really nice bottles of Chianti, so on
Saturday morning, I was prepared for the worst. Anna asked us
whether they could come earlier in the morning because they first
needed to talk with us about something else, and they didn’t want
to talk business over lunch.</p><p>I was still very anxious whether we could click together again
after all those years, and I felt a bit of pain and anger from
Potters leaving us without any explanation, but I forgot who
I was meeting with. Just when she got out of the large black
Range Rover, Ginny ran towards me and without saying anything she
crushed my ribs in the strongest hug I have experienced since
I last saw her.</p><p>“Jacquie, I am so sorry. I missed you so much.”</p><p>What could I say? I was still in shock (and catching my breath)
and so I managed just to engage my finger memory of politeness
and invite all four of them inside.</p><p>We sat on the patio, with a large pot of hot tea and some warm
blankets for whoever would need them. We looked down from our
garden to the fields behind the fence, and I knew that I am on
the edge of some important change in our lives. I have started
with my question which tortured me all that time.</p><p>“I heard you, Ginny, saying that you were sorry, but I am more
interested to know why? What are you sorry for? What happened
that you suddenly just left without any explanation or anything?
Did we do something wrong?”</p><p>Small pain of insecurity again a bit into my conscience. Do
Potters even want to be our friends again, or did they return
just because of the engagement between Annie and James?</p><p>Ginny wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by my
Annie.</p><p>“Aunt Ginny, may I ask Uncle Harry to explain everything, please?
I am afraid that this will be an official statement, and he
should start.”</p><p>However, he was immediately interrupted by Ginny. I had been
looking at Ginny for some time, and I couldn’t get rid of the
feeling she really resembled somebody. It took me all the time we
were collecting tea stuff and biscuits, and in the end, I have
remembered. I heard “Ode to My Family” by Cranberries on radio
couple of days ago, and I haven’t been able to get rid of the
earworm of first few tones of the song, and so it is no wonder
Dolores O’Riordan came easily to my mind, I have always been
impressed by her containing so much power, passion, and rage in
so small package. I gulped. Mrs O’Riordan died a couple of years
ago. So much happened since we last talked with each other!
Looking at Ginny again, I was therefore not surprised that she
couldn’t be contained by my daughter.</p><p>“No, I don’t want us to be the official. I want to say first how
sorry I am that I couldn’t have this talk those ten years ago
when we had to move out of Drakeshaugh. We just didn’t know how
to explain to you, why we have to separate from us, and why, if
it wasn’t for Anna and James we wouldn’t be able to talk to you
again.”</p><p>She then looked at Harry, who was clearly waiting for his cue.</p><p>“Well, Ginny slightly jumped the gun. What we would like to tell
you is the explanation of everything behind what we called the
Official Secrets Act. The point is that if you are let in, it
means a lot of responsibility. You will have to protect the
secret whenever you see it to be in danger, and for the wilful
leak of it, there are some really harsh penalties, like in the
worst case, life-long imprisonment in a really nasty prison. This
is really no joke.”</p><p>He was interrupted by Annie.</p><p>“However, I am now in, and even though I understand that the
possible punishments are really harsh, I have to assure you, that
however weird it looks, it is all perfectly good and legal. And
well, if you decline to be read in, there will be a pretty large
wall in between us.”</p><p>That was not exactly comforting, and I was afraid that my look at
Mike was one big question mark on my face. In the end, there was
no question however, we just couldn’t imagine anything standing
between us and Annie, and we were back at the simple question,
whether we trusted her or not. We certainly did, so we agreed,
and asked Harry to continue.</p><p>He started.</p><p>“I asked Minerva McGonagall how she introduces the parents of
Muggleborns, and she told me that there is just no easy way to
introduce people gently. You just have to bash them over their
head, and just pick up the pieces afterwards. So, …</p><p>Magic is real, and all Potters and Weasleys,” he looked for
a moment at Annie, “so far, are wizards and witches.”</p><p>I was confused at that moment.</p><p>“What do you mean ‘magic’? I don’t think you mean magicians doing
shows for kids, right? Or is it some kind of metaphor for
something?”</p><p>Harry smiled and shook his head.</p><p>“No kid shows, although that is a great idea. And no, I mean it
quite literally. The fairy-tale stuff, <em>Abracadabra</em>,
<em>Hocus-pocus</em>, wands like this one.” And with these words, he
pulled out of his shirt a very long thin beautifully carved stick
of wood.</p><p>I was looking at all four of them, and I was just waiting for
them to start laughing and explaining the joke. However, they
were completely focused and serious, and Annie was, if
I understood her face correctly, a wee bit worried.</p><p>Mike didn’t waste his time on analysing their faces and went
straight for shouting.</p><p>“What the hell? You made us expect some great revelation and
explanation and instead, you brought this cock-and-bull story?
You ignore us for ten years, and we are supposed to believe this
nonsense? Get out of my house! And Annie, what the hell, what
this is supposed to mean?”</p><p>Annie looked a bit hurt, but she was always a fighter, and she
hasn’t given up.</p><p>“Dad, stop, please! This is not a cock-and-bull story, believe
me. Do you remember, how, when we came to you for dinner, and we
announced our engagement, I had a hand in a sling? We truly had
an accident on the bike, and no, James was completely innocent in
that, and the hand was actually cleanly broken. Aunt Ginny, here,
gave me some potion, and it healed itself through one night. In
the morning when we got our breakfast here, I still kept it in
a sling just for a show.”</p><p>Mike was looking at Annie with a slightly vacant look, and he
didn’t look like he knew what to say. She continued.</p><p>“Uncle Harry, could you show them something to persuade them,
please?”</p><p>Harry Potter was looking at us for a moment, and then he pulled
out his wand and waved with it. A large bouquet of flowers burst
from his wand—large periwinkle chrysanthemum surrounded by
several small orange roses. It was beautifully arranged. He
caught the flowers with his other hand and with a small bow gave
them to me.</p><p>“One shouldn’t come to visit without flowers for the mistress of
the house. At least that’s what I remember from my Muggle
childhood.”</p><p>Ginny smirked. “Except it is really not that common between
wizards and witches, because flowers don’t prove he actually
remembered, he could conjure the perfect bouquet behind the doors
just before the ringing of the bell.”</p><p>Her joke broke finally through my consternation and I took the
flowers and thanked them.</p><p>“However created they were, thank you very much. They are
beautiful. Let me put them to a vase.”</p><p>Harry smiled, waved with his wand again, and there was a small
simple vase standing on the table next to me. I swallowed hard,
and I have managed to keep my face composed.</p><p>“Thank you. That is certainly convenient. Let me get some water
for it.”</p><p>Harry shook his head.</p><p>“I don’t think you should bother. Unfortunately, permanent
conjuration is way more complicated, and these flowers will cease
to exist in two hours or so. That’s another reason why conjuring
flowers is not that useful as you could believe … no girl is
happy when her flowers evaporate just after her pudding.”</p><p>It was strange, I was completely shocked from the unexplainable
bouquet in my hand, or now in that vase, and they were looking at
them like at something normal and unimportant. Fortunately, Anna
understood my confusion and changed the subject. Not for better,
I am afraid.</p><p>“Mum, there is one another thing I have to admit. Yes, Uncle
Harry doesn’t work for the Home Office, but he truly is in law
enforcement. There is really the Auror Office and it is part of
the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of
Magic. It is something like the Major Investigation Team of the
Metropolitan Police, they do just large and serious crimes. Also,
Albus and Hugo Weasley are working there as well.</p><p>We didn’t have the accident that day James asked me to marry him.
Some relative of a criminal Uncle Harry put behind bars attacked
us when we were driving.”</p><p>She was looking with fear in her eyes because she was obviously
afraid I would start to be afraid of her relationship with
Potters. However, I remembered better.</p><p>“Harry, those many years ago when we met and you were dealing
with the werewolf case, I remember seeing a ghost of that Polly
Auror dead lady, didn’t I? It wasn’t just me being drunk, was
it?”</p><p>Harry shook his head.</p><p>“No, it wasn’t wine. However, you have apparently played your
drunkenness well, because although we were suspicious that you
are not just a regular Muggle woman we missed this one.
Unfortunately, it was really Polly. Why do you talk about her?”</p><p>“Somebody was attacking Drakeshaugh and you were saying that you
have some security mechanism there which protected us?”</p><p>“Did I?” Harry was apparently digging back into his memory and
for him, it was just another evening from many other evenings.
Which sounded rather ominous, because for me it was probably the
most eventful evening of my life.</p><p>“Right, I remember. Those blue lights, right? Yeah, the special
security machine was the best I could come up with at that
moment. In reality, as the Head Auror, I have special charms on
all our houses, which when breached make alarm in the Auror
Office and a squadron of Aurors immediately Portkeys to my
garden. Those blue lights show when the portkey is activated.
That’s one of the methods how wizards can instantaneously move
over large distances.”</p><p>“Well, I have suspected something like this. Those policemen have
shown really fast so that it would be just a chance. It was
obvious to me that even if you were some officer somewhere in the
Home Office, you would like to have some special protection for
your family. And yes, Annie, I have always considered, well at
least as one of the options, that you would end up with James,
and if I was thinking about a regular law enforcement chief or
some kind of Home Office bureaucrat, we would probably ask for
some protection. Or if Henry ended with Rose or Lily, but that
was less likely, they are too different personalities. So, I kind
of expected that I would ask you for some kind of alarm to your
office. Except I was thinking about phone connections …”</p><p>Annie was looking at me with her mouth slightly open, evidently
surprised. Harry was just chuckling.</p><p>“I cannot say I am that surprised, you were always too observant
for my taste. Yes, we can certainly arrange some alarm for you.
It will probably not bring a regiment of Aurors, but just
a sheriff from the York office, however, you shouldn’t be left
alone. And we can certainly add even some protective charms to
it, so the burglar expecting a hapless Muggle would hit it.”</p><p>A lot of questions I had in my head for years finally started to
make sense.</p><p>“OK, so if magic exists, you said something about some fast
transportation. That means all those times we thought you have
a private plane somewhere around you were what … teleporting?”</p><p>Potters looked at me with a bit confused look, but then James
finally caught up.</p><p>“Oh right, Star Trek, Rose showed me some of its episodes on her
telly. Yes, we can do something like teleporting but only for
limited distance … no jumping between galaxies. Actually, even
transport to here from Devon where my grandparents live is
usually more jumps. On the other hand, we don’t need any huge
machine with blinking lights. Just our wand is enough.”</p><p>I have led everybody outside on the terrace and served our
launch. We had a beautiful afternoon, when we finally heard the
full story of the small orphaned boy with very black and very
disorderly hair and very beautiful green eyes. It was a nice
story and I have felt always privileged to be at least part of
it.</p><p>All was well.</p>
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